Peter Vaisanen believes the Invicta Dynamos have what it takes to beat the Cardiff NIHL Devils in the play-offs this weekend.

The Dynamos go head to head with Cardiff in back to back games on Saturday and Sunday night with the away leg first before returning to the Silver Blades Ice Bowl to finish the job.

In what is effectively the Quarter-final stage of the play-offs, the Dynamos will go into the game full of confidence after a recent good run in the league saw them finish fourth and Vaisanen believes winning at Cardiff in the last week of the regular season should stand them in good stead:

“We went to Cardiff and sent them a message as we’ve got them in the play-offs and it was good to get that 4-2 win.”

“It was nice to show them that we can win and now we have got them in the play-offs we’ll show them again that we can beat them.”

It’s been an up and down season for the Dynamos both on and off the ice, but the Canadian believes everyone is united and pulling in the same direction for the ultimate goal and that’s to win the play-offs:

“There’s been some adversity and that’s just like any other season I’ve ever played in. It’s how well you deal with adversity.
Once the regular season is over with and we’re into the play-offs, you’ll see our real character players step up, guys will be playing and can determine a game.”

“Everyone has to be onboard, work as a team and play as a team.”

“This is what you play for all year. The regular season is over and we tried our hardest to get up as far as we could in the table. The team had made a step in the right direction and finished fourth. Now we are looking to do something in the play-offs.”

With the first leg away from home, Vaisanen believes the Dynamos are more than capable of winning big in Cardiff, but wants to return to Gillingham with an advantage:

“It will be nice to go there and get a big win. If it has to be a 3-2 game then we’ll play that and then come back here beat them in our barn.”

“We’ve been pretty successful there having been there twice and come away with two wins, so we know how to play them in their rink.”

“Every team steps it up, so we have got to be ready for whatever they throw at us.”

Once the dust has settled and the play-offs are over, Vaisanen will return to his home country, before deciding on his future and hasn’t ruled out returning to play for the Dynamos once again:

“I’ll be going back to Canada for a while and sort out contracts for next year as to where I am going to play.”

“I might be back here, who knows? That’s the fun part of being a hockey player!”

“As a hockey player, you want to be playing at the best level possible and if there is an opportunity to move up a level, you’re always going to explore those options.”

“This team has been so good to me over the past couple of years, we’ve had a great year playing together, so who knows?”

You can see the how the Dynamos get on against Cardiff in the play-offs when they ice at the Silver Blades Ice Bowl in Gillingham on Sunday night. Face off is 5:15pm with tickets available from www.invictadynamos.com

Pictures supplied by David Trevallion.